About Me

About Me

About Me. I am a ‘running prof’ in 2 senses. I am a Professor (Emeritus) of Economics at IUPUI, the urban research and health sciences campus of Indiana University in Indianapolis. The other sense is that I am a (semi-) Professional road racer in that I have won cash prizes at a number of national and regional road races. I was born in 1945 so this blog will contain a lot of information useful for Masters runners. As I am also pretty fast [a sub 1:30 half marathon and a sub-40 10K at age 68], and only increased my intensity and distance recently, much of what is here may also be relevant for runners of any age.A recent article about my participation in the May 2016 5th 3rd River Bank Run is at:http://www.mlive.com/sports/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/04/being_an_elite_runner_in_your.html.Email: therunningprof@gmail.com

Running Background. I went out for the track team in spring of my sophomore year in high school [Lexington, MA.] and was, frankly, not very good. I stuck with it, though through X-country and track seasons, took a semester off my freshman year in college. By fall of my senior year in college I was a journeyman runner, able to pace in the low 5 minute per mile range for X-country distances between 4 and a half to 5 miles long. I was the Captain of an undefeated small college (Tufts University in Medford, MA.) X-Country team. I was strictly a depth runner, however, coming in as the 4th or 5th runner for the team. Make no mistake, though, it was a great honor to be Captain of such a fine group of runners. I was incredibly lucky.
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After college I said goodbye to distance running to focus on graduate education. I stayed active but did not regularly run until I hit my mid-30’s and was trying to figure out the next steps in my career. I was a recreational runner then and took part in a few 10K’s but with times in the mid-30’s. After that I focused on career and raising a family until I was in my late 50’s. I took up recreational running again and decided to participate in a few 5K’s just for fun. I wanted to set a good example for my kids, a teen and a pre-teen, and felt it would be good for my health and outlook and could easily be fit into a busy schedule.

For the next ten years I ran only about 10-12 miles per week, ran in local 5K races usually in times ranging from mid 20’s to 22 minutes and typically winning my age group.

When I decided to step down as Chair of my Department and began looking towards retirement, an idea started to shape that now might be a good time to extend my training and intensify it just to see if I could actually improve my times at age 67 without breaking down. A couple of minor injuries had slowed me down once or twice but those were behind me. In years past I had only trained actively through October, pretty much shutting down training from November through February, to avoid cold, snow and ice, running my first race in late May or sometimes not until June and finishing up by early September.

First Masters Running Exploits. In October of 2012, on my 67th birthday, I decided to extend my racing and training over the winter. I also added a bit to my weekly distance and intensity. I ran in a 10K race in mid-November in 42:38 and got a few raised eyebrows and comments from veteran runners I knew and admired, and mostly chased after, that it was a very credible time. So I took heart and kept my training up with the goal of roughly doubling my weekly mileage. By late November I hit 33 miles for the week and while that was the high water mark, I did keep it up generally in the 22-30 mile range until late December when the snow and ice started to keep me inside. Between then and early March 20 miles per week was typical, but that was still a lot more than I had done in the past. I tried an early 15K in mid-March, my longest race since I had started competing as an older runner, and was delighted to find that I was able to average (just) under 7:00 per mile with a 1:04:58. I decided to try the Sam Costa Half Marathon in mid March, a race of some local renown as it has been run continuously since the late 1960’s. I ran well again with a time of 1:33:21. That encouraged me to contact Don Lein, Chair of USATF Masters Long Distance Running, who told me it was an excellent time. He encouraged me to compete nationally in their championships.

So in October 2013 I made the trek east to Syracuse to the USATF Masters 5K Championships, not really knowing what to expect nor having much hope of a top 3 finish, just hoping to break 20 minutes as I had earlier in the summer in local races. I took the bronze medal in 19:20 and now there was no turning back.

After that race I competed in national championship races from 8K to Half Marathon, earning an age group podium finish each time and sometimes being among the top masters runners overall on the basis of age-grading performance. I am the 2014 USATF Male 65-69 Half Marathon Champion with a time of 1:29:29. After retiring as Chair I remained on the faculty for one year but found it increasingly difficult to get to national races all over the country and fully meet my obligations to the university. So in June 2014 I became Professor Emeritus and agreed to some light teaching. Here's my retirement pic:

Since retiring I have run my first marathon, a Boston qualifier in 3:18, and raced in Joan Benoit Samuelson's Beach to Beacon 10K (an age group win) at 40:39. Injured for most of the fall I was, nonetheless, able to run as part of a Cross Country team I helped assemble, sponsored by Athletic Annex, a running store in Indianapolis. A great bunch of guys and very serious runners, we won the national 5 kilometer cross country championship in early November in Indiana. Cheers to Denny, Jerry, Bill, and Alan and our race day Coach, Tom!

The upper hamstring injury I sustained in August 2014 proved more intractable than expected. Three times since then I was back to about 80% of my pre-inury running ability but each time I suffered a re-injury. During this time I was sometimes able to race. As noted above, I finished 2nd in my Age Group and was part of the winning M60+ team at the USATF 5K Cross Country Championship in November 2014, finished 6th in my age group at the 2015 National 8K Championship in February, managed an age group trophy (just barely) at the [15K] Gate River Run, and successfully completed the Boston Marathon. But my times at all these races were at a far slower pace than I ran in 2014. I am continuing with strengthening, stability and flexibility exercises and run as much as I am able. I have been working with a Physical Therapist since early July and hope to regain full fitness later in 2015. As of August 2015, I had begun to compete locally and my first national race at a distance over 1 mile was anticipated for Syracuse in early October. Fingers crossed!

So how did it go? Mixed at best. I was delighted to be able to run at Syracuse where I had burst onto the Masters scene with a podium finish 2 years earlier but the experience itself was humbling. On the plus side, I was able to break the 7 minute per mile barrier for the first time since the 8K Championship in February but I finished 11th in the age group and more than 2 minutes slower than in 2013. Still I felt I was on the road back. At the Tulsa Run at the end of October, the USATF Masters 15K Championship, I was in an epic duel with Przemek Nowicki of the Shore AC. He led out from the start but then I overtook him and stormed up the first steep hill; then after 4 miles he passed me and left me behind. I thought the race was done at that point. But I kept on going and heading over the Arkansas River, spotted him up ahead falling back as I was getting my 2nd (or 3rd?) wind. I passed him at speed with about 600 meters to go but not enough speed as he passed me with about 200 meters to go and I had no answer--Great fun! Much slower than two years earlier but a 2nd place in the age group again. I was looking forward to 2016 as a good year. For the second year in a row, despite losing a chunk of the year to injury and recovery, I managed a third place in the USATF Masters Individual Grand Prix--70-74 category in 2015 after 65-69 in 2014. I hoped 2016 would see a higher finish for me in that contest.

The first part of 2016 went somewhat according to plan as I figured the early part of the year would still be recovery mode. I ran a timid Cross Country race at Bend OR that left me with a disheartening 3rd place, finishing behind Gary Patton, a track expert who was trying his hand at a few of the shorter LDR/XC races and a regional runner, Paul Caisse, who got out ahead of me and I could not catch him. The 8K road Championships at Brea CA went better. I ran a credible 34:10, close to my time of 2015, but was caught and passed with 100 meters to go by Mr. Patton, who took 2nd behind the sterling runner from Northern California, Len Goldman. I hit my high point at Dedham Massachusetts at the end of April when I was able to get out strong and hold it all the way to the end, winning my 2nd National Championship in 42:19. I ran for my new Ann Arbor Track Club team, finishing as second runner in for the 60+ team; the 70+ team was not competing. But Gary Patton did well too, finishing second less than a minute back. Chatting with Gary at that race I learned he would be switching his focus to the track for a while but would be able to fit in the1 Mile and 5K Championships before going over to Perth Australia for the World Masters Athletics Championships. I figured then I had no chance at beating him in the Mile so the only opportunity would be to beat him in Syracuse at the 5K. I envisioned that as a noble cap, one way or the other, to our Grand Prix contest. One week later that bubble popped. Unlike the earlier hamstring issues which showed up with a tear, this one just came on from over-training or over-racing or a combination. The right one before, thisi time the left one. I could not run faster than 10 minutes a mile without pain; if I tried to lower it down towards 9 minutes per mile, the pain became excruciating. Back to PT and this time get it right.

Despite my high hopes for the year, i spent the next 3 months battling back--PT sessions 3 days per week and gradually getting back to running. Six weeks later my log for the day read, "Jog 36 minutes at 11:30 per mile pace and then towards end lowered to 11/mile." And that was typical, not an easy day. By the end of August I was willing to enter a national race to run for my team inthe 1 Mile Run at Flint. I had had to jog the previous year, running 7:02. Little did I know then that the following year I would not even manage to break 8 minutes. In one of life's little ironies, it turned out that GVH's top M60 runner, Mark Rybinski, who had finished 3rd to Rick Becker and John Barbour at the previous year's Club XC Championship, was also nursing a hamstring injury and jogged for his team as well. He was more careful than I, jogging around the course 7 seconds slower. So even though I had run very slow, at the end, I could answer the query of "Howdja do?" with a misleading but perfectly accurate, "Well, I was in recovery mode so it was way off my norm, but i was still able to beat GVH's Rybinski by 7 seconds!" A little over a month later I felt recovery was proceeding normally as I broke 7 minutes per mile at the 5K Championships in Syracuse, finishing 5th with a slightly faster time than in 2015. But this time the recovery did not proceed in a straightforward way as I made an error in training. Visiting my wife's cousin in the twin Cities, I misjudged how much long runs would take it out of me. We were staying in an Air Bnb just a few blocks from the Mississippi River, with a wonderful running path along the bluffs, looking out over the October colors of oranges and reds. By my historical standards, it was not all that much, 20 miles of running in 3 days and 30 in 5 days. But prior to that I was doing 15-19 miles per week. So I had ignored the 20% rule in ramping up activity. In any case it was the return of pain in the hamstring attachment area and an adductor issue as well. Back to alternating a slow running day with a no impact day in the gym. By late October I was able to run a tempo workout on a towpath, covering the last 3 miles at a 7:45 clip. I decided that if I was careful I could run for my team in Tulsa at the 15K Championships. That was perhaps a mistake although who is to say. The left hamstring never loosened up and the adductor was a bit sore. By agreement with my Physical Therapist, I kept the background pain in the 1-3 range, running 8 minutes slower than the year before, but managing an age group 2nd nonetheless and helping my team to a victory and 100 points in the Club Grand Prix chase.

Speedsters Up Front; I am in about the 3rd row back from John Gardiner, Greg Mitchell, and David Angell who finished 1-2-3 for the Men and Melissa Gacek and Melody Fairchild, who finished 1-2 for the Women

But the pain was much worse over the next week and I had to pull out of the 5K Masters XC Championship in Tallahassee in early November. In my absence, my teammate, Doug Goodhue, returned to action, taking 1st place in the Age Group as the team finished 3rd in a tie-breaker. I knew if I had been able to run we would have had 2nd or maybe even 1st. But there was no way. My regime of one day on/one day off continued through November and I headed off to the Club XC Championships in Tallahassee knowing all I could do wold be to run a controlled race for my team, again keeping background pain in the 1-3 range. It was a successful race for me, given expectations, but disastrous for the team as my good friend and teammate, Doug, was unable to finish as his lower leg injury reasserted itself during the race. Without Doug leading the way, I was first runner in for my team, but we had to settle for 5th place, and worry about when Doug would next be able to rejoin the team in a race. So how did the Grand Prix end fo rme--Well, as expected, Gary Patton took the prize by a long shot. My good pal from Shore AC, Przemek Nowicki, overtook me in the fall and I could not score enough points at Club XC to overtake him--3rd place again for me for the 3rd consecutive year.

So 2017 is a new year. I skipped the XC race at bend, focusing on building my base and running a couple fo 15K races in Florida instead. I ran well at the Double Bridge Run, winning a handsome age group trophy for their 20th anniversary, clocking 1:11:35, pretty respectable given where I had been 3 months previously in Tulsa. I thought I could come back 3 weeks later without any problem as I had at times in the past. But I forgot that I was still in recovery mode. Gasparilla was fun but a lot tougher than I had anticipated, or just an off day. In any case I ran 16 seconds per mile slower and finished 3rd in my age group. No shame in losing to the great Florida Masters runner, Al Wieringa, but I should have been able to stay closer, even at this stage of recovery. Oh well, live and learn. The trip was mainly fun because my friends form the New Balance Tampa MastersRacing Team hosted me for a delightful evening of grilled pizza and good running talk. Three weeks later, I felt even better.

I went to Virginia Beach for the 8K Masters Championships, on a new course in a new city. Starting out at a measured pace, I gathered strength as the race went on. I had to let Jim May, of the Genesee Valley Harriers get out away from me but I figured i was running well and had a chance to keep everyone else behind me. When we crossed the 4 mile mark I could see Jim again ahead of me but it looked like I might be closing in on him just a bit. When we rounded the turn and headed on to the Boardwalk again, I saw him ahead of me and I was gaining but there was not enough race course left. He had the victory with 13 seconds to spare--great race by Jim! I did get the 2nd place though so I was pretty happy with that. I did not quite break 7 minutes per mile but that is okay. My goal this year is to be the tide not just one of the breakers. Keep this recovery going until I am all the way back and not break down halfway through the season. We'll see.

Pumping the Arms and Feeling the Speed, trying to chase down Jim May as I pass the statue of Neptune [Poseidon to my Greek friends] in the USATF Masters 8K Championship

Next up is the 10K Championship in Dedham Mass at the end of April. The real test comes a week later to see if I can navigate both the 10K in Dedham and the Half Marathon in Newport Beach-My thought is that I can run a good race in Dedham and then take a very easy training week and then ease into the first half of the HM and, if necessary, just take it as a long workout run. Wish me luck!

Oh and this has all been about my running, one of the great joys of my life. I have also become more active in helping out Masters LDR. Not only this blog but I am now on the Executive Committee of USATF Masters LDR and starting to serve, occasionally, as a Race Liaison. It was definitely a treat getting to announce the Award winners of the 8K in Virginia Beach!